Capstrat cuts jobs due to 'shifts in business'

Capstrat, one of the Triangle’s largest communications firms, confirmed that it laid off some employees this week but provided few details.

Ken Eudy, CEO of the Raleigh-based agency, issued a statement in response to an inquiry from The News & Observer that confirmed that employees were laid off on Monday but didn’t disclose specifics.

“We continue to employ more than 100 people at our Raleigh office,” Eudy said in his statement. Capstrat had about 135 employees as of July.

“Capstrat has had a strong performance in new business in the first quarter of 2014, but has had some shifts in business in recent months,” Eudy wrote. “We need to maintain appropriate staffing levels for the volume of business we currently have, so we reduced our number of employees, effective April 14.”

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“Any agency that’s been in business for 20 years, as we have, will encounter ups and downs,” Eudy added.

Capstrat provides public relations, advertising and lobbying services for its roster of clients. Today its clients include Duke Energy, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Quintiles, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.

During each of the past three years, Capstrat has won more advertising awards than any other agency in the competition sponsored by the Raleigh-Durham chapter of the American Advertising Federation.

Eudy is a former executive director of the state Democratic Party, but the firm employs lobbyists from both sides of the aisle.

Last year Capstrat was acquired for an undisclosed sum by public relations giant Ketchum, which according to its website has more than 2,400 employees worldwide.

Ketchum is in turn part of Omnicom Group, a publicly traded advertising and public relations firm.